In the immortal words of Adam Sampson <azz@us-lot.org>:
> Ben Woodard <ben@zork.net> writes:
>> > Does anyone happen to remember something that documents something like
> > this?
>> Perhaps you're thinking of the roles in "The Mythical Man Month" by
> Fred Brooks? I don't have a copy of the book to hand, but
> <http://www.cs.usfca.edu/~parrt/course/601/lectures/man.month.html>
> cites them as:
>> # Surgeon: chief programmer
> # Co-pilot: able to do what surgeon does but is less experienced
> # Administrator: handles money, people, space, machines, etc...)
> # Editor: surgeon must do doc, but editor must clean it up
> # Two secretaris
> # Program clerk: maintaining technical records
> # Toolsmith: serves surgeon's need for tools, utilities
> # Tester: Devise system component tests, does debugging
This is the exact book that came to mind when I read the parent post. I
still haven't read it, but after reading much commentary on it over the
years, it seems to fit perfectly. Perhaps the "problem coder" from the
pointy-headed manager's pointy-headed-point-of-view is the coder that
Brooks describes as a "Toolsmith." Pass out paperbacks of Brooks's books
to managerial folks and you may save your favorite Toolsmith's job!
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